Gay South African Student Latest Victim of Russian Skinhead Violence

One of the ugliest faces to emerge in the wake of Russia’s gay propaganda law is that of a group of neo-Nazis, who proudly post videos of gay men being tortured on social media. Although it is almost inconceivable today, that face got uglier in a video posted by the group featuring the racist taunt of a gay South African student, Buzzfeed reports.

Anti-gay activists in the city of Belgorod, located 25 miles from the Ukrainian border, lured David Smith, a 20-year-old student from South Africa into a sting. The group is part of the "Occupy Pedophilia" movement, which sets online traps for gay men and posts the videos of the assaults on social media.

As with many of their videos, Smith was forced into a bathroom where he was partially stripped and forced into a bathtub while being interrogated in both Russian and English about his sexual past. In addition to being slapped, the victim has his head shaved and was forced through a number of humiliating scenarios, including being forced to kiss and dance with a watermelon which is eventually shoved into his face.

Finally, his captors force him to declare the phrase "White Power" in Russian to the camera.

According to Buzzfeed, Smith filed a complaint with local police but was subsequently expelled from the university he was attending.

Buzzfeed points to a news release from the Sova Center which tracks violence in Russia. The report states that in October 2013, no fewer than 20 people were injured in racist and neo-Nazi attacks, two of them fatally. The report goes on to say that since the beginning of the year, racist violence has killed 18 people in Russia and injured 141.

A new report from the Spectrum Human Rights Alliance, which aims to support LGBT rights in Eastern Europe, claims that Russian skinheads allegedly used a popular social media site to lure LGBT teens in order to torture them.